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Help with system selection

I am in process of obtaining quotes for installation of a Hunter system. My first point of confusion is around how I can get different quotes regarding the number of heads I need for the same amount of property from the 2 companies. For example, my front lawn is approximately 60' x 202', yet one says I need 39 heads and the other says 29 heads.

The next area of confusion is around the materials used. The following is the list of materials from each that I would greatly appreciate feedback on:

They difference in the amount of heads installed between contractors could mean a couple of different things, without looking at the drawing it is hard to tell. One company may not be designing your system with head to head coverage, thus using less heads. It could be that the company with more heads is overkilling the amount needed to be installed, and just wasting water. More often than not, if there are less heads, generally the system is not designed for head to head coverage. Something is not adding up there.

Hunter makes excellent products, and I stand by them 100%. There are very many companies any more that are strictly geared toward the professionals, and don't sell out to the home improvement centers.

While the Hunter SRC is a good controller, I would be leaning more towards the Hunter Pro-C. Same programability as the SRC, but is expandable to 15 stations, instead of the standard 6 or 9 you get with the SRC. Also the Pro-C is built a little bit tougher than the SRC.

I notice that Vendor 1 includes spray heads, while Vendor 2 does not. Is there a reason for this? The Pro Series Hunter spray heads are a very competitive sprinkler head. They have an excellent spray pattern with thier nozzles, and the retraction on them is good. Very comparable to the Rainbird 1800 series, and I would recommend either of them.

The Hunter I-20 rotor heads are built very tough, geared a little bit more towards larger residential or commercial settings. I would stick with either the PGP or the I-20, both from Hunter. For the money, the PGP is probably a better buy, but the I-20 also comes with a 5 year warranty, whereas the PGP comes with a 2 year warranty.

We generally install the 765 series backflow from Febco, and so I have no knowledge on the 825Y. I am assuming because both contractors picked the same backflow device, that it is probably the standard for your area. As for Febco in general, they make a great product, and I again recommend them.

You can't truly have a Hunter sprinkler system without having Hunter valves as well! The PGV gets high marks in my book, we install these, and often replace others with them as well. If you have really dirty water, than the HPV valve is a good choice.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask away. Because products and contractor rates vary so much by location, it is hard to ballpark a figure. If you get at least three quotes, you should be able to locate a median ballpark figure though. Good Luck.

Thanks for the quick response and helpful feedback. Your point on the the spray heads being included with one and not the other is a good one and I will follow up with the vendor on that. According to each I am getting head to head coverage. The vendor with the lower number of heads is telling me there will be one every 30 feet; with my water pressure at about 50, I am not sure if it is better to have more heads. I will try and get a digram from each to help define this more. I did get a 3rd quote, but this vendor strictly uses Toro. The curious thing on the prices is that they were all within about $500 of each other, yet there was disparity in the materials in both quantity (# of heads differed, some included spray heads) and quality (Toro vs Hunter, Irritrol vs Weathermatic valves).

Regarding the use of the Hunter Spray heads, what is the difference between the SRS Sprays vs the PS Sprays. I have two bids with the contractors using the two different makes of hunter sprays. From the discussion it seems that the Pro-Spray series is superior. Thanks in advance for your input.

actually in my opinion the srs is a better head, but only if you dont use those hunter nozzles...cuz they suck. srs with the rainbirad nozzles(which is one of the ONLY rainbird products i will put any credit in =/) will work good, but the hunter ps is a perfectly good spray head, we use them on new jobs all the time.

Stick with the Pro-Spray heads hands down. I have used them over the 1800 series from Rain-Bird since the PS sprays came out. Installed over 200 of them on a local golf course main entrance to replace 1800 sprays and haven't had to adjust or replace a single one.